Mount Tai

Towering over Taian City in the center of Shandong Province, and stretching as far as Changqing County near Jinan City, Mount Tai has a total area of about 260 square kilometers, with its summit 1,524 meters above sea level.
Mount Tai, along with Mount Huashan, Mount Hengshan, Mount Songshan, and Mount Hengshan, is included in the "Five Sacred Mountains" of China. Because it lies in east China, Mount Tai is referred to as East Mount, the First of Five Sacred Mountains.
In ancient times, Mount Tai was thought by the feudal rulers of various dynasties to be the embodiment of Heaven. From First Emperor Ying Zheng of the Qin Dynasty down to Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, many emperors through the ages paid personal visits to Mount Tai, attending grand sacrificial ceremonies after they were enthroned. These "royal visits" con-tributed to the construction of statues of gods, temples and steles with inscrip-tions, and left many cultural relics and historical sites in Mount Tai.
With its magnificent appearance, Mount Tai is full of power and grandeur. Ancient buildings and cultural relics are scattered like pearls along the paths winding up to the top or at the foot of the mountain.
At the south foot can be seen these major scenes in succession: Mount Tai Temple (Dai Miao ), Black Dragon Pool (Hei Long Tan ), the Heavenly Queen Pool ( Wang Mu Chi), the Red Gate Palace, etc.
Mount Tai Temple is one of the three great palatial buildings in China, the other two being the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing and the Confu-cius Temple in Qufu, Shandong. According to historical records, its construc-tion started as early as the Qin Dynasty, was carried on during the Han Dy-nasty and then greatly expanded in the Tang and Song dynasties. Renovating was undertaken in the successive dynasties of Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing. The main building, known as the Hall of Celestial ( Tian Kuang Dian ) was com-pleted in the year 1009 in the Song Dynasty. It is a double-roofed, palace-like wooden structure with carved beams, painted pillars and upturned eaves cov-ered by yellow tiles.
The Red Gate Palace was named not for its red colored gate but because of the fact that northwest of the palace stand two red rocks which resemble a gate.
At the middle of the mountain slope stand Dou Mu Palace, the valley of stone sutra, and Five-Pine Pavilion.
Dou Mu Palace is formerly called the Dragon Fountain Monastery. It used to serve as a nunnery. The present name was adopted after its recon-struction in 1542. Near the building, flowing water from Longquan Mountain gurgles up, and higher up the cliff, three pools join together and form a wa-terfall which, after a heavy rain, becomes a big waterfall. In front of the palace there is a Chinese scholar-tree planted during the Ming Dynasty. It is called the Reclining Dragon because of its shape.
The valley of the stone sutra is located to the northeast of Dou Mu Palace. In the open air, on the smooth and gently sloping surface of a rock, an ancient calligrapher' s text of the Buddhist Diamond Sutra was cut in char-acters 50 cm high in the style of the official script of the Northern Qi Dy-nasty.
Five-Pine Pavilion is a terrace in the shade of big pine trees (a delightful place for tourists to relax). According to historical records, when the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty climbed Mount Tai, and was caught in a violent storm, he took shelter under the thick foliage of some pine trees. To show his gratitude, he conferred on them the title of "Wu Daifu", which means "grand officers. " The original pines disappeared long ago. The three pine trees that can be seen today were planted in 1730 A.D.
On the top of the mountain stands the South Gate to Heaven (Nan Tian Men ). The South Gate to Heaven is also called Three Heavenly Gate (San Tian Men ). Its construction started in the Yuan Dynasty and therefore has a history of over 600 years. Bixia Temple is located at the eastern end of the street. It was built in the Song Dynasty and consists of a large-scale, ancient group of magnificent buildings at the top of Mount Tai, more than a hundred meters high.
The summit of Mount Tai is a small plateau, dotted with magnificent scenic spots. Among them are Yue Guang Feng (Moon Watching Peak), Ri Guan Feng ( Sun rise Watching Peak), ( The Sea-sounding Rock), Tan Haishi etc.
The very summit of the mountain is named Yu Huang Summit, mean-ing the summit of Supreme God of Taoism where stands the Temple d Supreme God of Taoism. The Pavilion of Sunrise Watching in the east of the summit, is the traditional place from which to watch the sunrise. From the western side, at the River-View Pavilion, the Yellow River can be seen flow-ing in the distance like a golden dragon. Situated in the middle of the court-yard of the temple is the Ji Ding Shi (the Summit Boulder). The two Chi-nese characters on the face of the boulder mean "The Summit" and the figure 1,524 refers to the height of Mount Tai in meters.
The scenic spots on the northern slope include Rocky Recess (Hou Shi Wu ), Nine-Dragon Ridge (Jiu Long Gang ), Peak of Celestial Pillar ( Tian Zhu Feng) and so on. Along the western path of Mount Tai are scattered many flowers, bushes, and trees. Orchards fill the air with fragrance.
While climbing up along the paths, now and then one can see lines and inscriptions carved on the cliffs or stele by ancient scholars, who were so in-spired as to write the lines in praise of Mount Tai. Among these scholars were Confucius, Si Maqian, Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Dongpo as well as scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties.